Son of Sun, page 22
Jeremy yanked free the undamaged guard vest while Nola pulled off the other guard’s helmet. She didn’t let herself look at the guard’s face.
Jeremy passed Nola the clean vest and pulled on the second helmet.
Taking a deep breath, Nola settled the helmet on her head. The scent of the dead guard’s sweat filled her nose. Sour rolled into her mouth as she slung on the vest.
They’ll keep me safe. Protect the heart and the neck, that’s all I have to do.
“Ready?” Jeremy tightened his blood-covered vest and lifted the box from Nola’s hands.
She couldn’t see his face beneath the helmet.
He’s not one of them. He’s Jeremy. My Jeremy.
“Let’s go.” Nola took the lead, following the same path Gentry had run moments before.
They ran past the Aquaponics Dome and Leaf Dome.
How many people will see us running?
She waited for the crackle of a warning in her ear. For someone to have seen the two fallen guards and sounded the alarm.
They rounded the corner and neared the edge of Green Dome. The lights hadn’t been turned on for the evening, but still a figure moved on the other side of the glass.
Jeremy sprinted in front of Nola, tearing the fabric from the box before he reached the dome. He planted the box on the glass wall and kept running.
Nola glanced up to the cement tower. A black figure climbed toward the Com Room.
The last of the sunlight faded from the sky.
Move faster, Gentry.
They reached the far side of Green Dome where an open patch of earth separated it from its neighbor.
Jeremy pulled Nola to the ground at the very edge of the glass, planting his body between her and Green Dome.
How long?
Every breath seemed too fast and too slow at the same time.
Raina, it’s time.
Her heart raced. Her pulse thundered in her ears.
Bang!
The explosion shook Nola’s lungs. Jeremy yanked her to her feet before she could remember how to take a breath.
Boom!
The sound came from beyond Green Dome. A pillar of fire soared into the air. Blue marred the orange of the flames. Nola couldn’t tear her gaze from the blaze as Jeremy led her around the side of Green Dome to the newly made break in the glass.
Raina had planned the charge well. A ten-foot hole had been blasted into the side of the dome.
Not so big they can’t find a way to fix it.
But how hot will the Nallot burn? Will the fumes kill or be burned away?
Red lights had already begun flashing on the inside of the domes.
Mrs. Pearson stood between the planting trays in the middle of the dome, swaying and staring at the hole in the glass.
“Get to the bunker,” Jeremy shouted. “Go. Go!”
Mrs. Pearson started toward the stairs, but Nola and Jeremy were faster. They reached the corridor below before Mrs. Pearson’s footsteps clattered on the stairs behind them.
The helmet dulled the blaring of the sirens and shouts of terror, but the tunnel itself shocked fear into Nola’s spine.
The whole thing could collapse. What if the tower falls? What if Gentry didn’t make it off the tower before the explosion?
The shouts of the panicked Domers grew louder as Nola raced past the corridor that led to the Guard barracks and the bunker near seed storage. Jeremy turned out of the corridor and ran up the stairs to the Aquaponics Dome just as a family with two small children raced by, the toddler sobbing onto his father’s shoulder.
The flashing lights seemed out of place in the Aquaponics Dome, where fish swam in slow circles beneath the crops that fed the Domers.
Nola leaned against the wall just out of sight of the staircase. She found Jeremy’s hand without tearing her gaze from the fire that still burned by the helicopter.
“We said we’d keep it out of the air,” Jeremy said.
Nola nodded, sending her oversized helmet bobbling. Peeling herself away from the wall, she crept farther into the dome, going down the steps that led to the base of the tanks. High above the domes, a faint glow came from the top of the Com Tower.
“She did it,” Jeremy said. “All the communications systems will be out. The guards’ coms won’t work. They won’t be able to contact the Incorporation. All of it’s gone.”
“You’ll have to congratulate her when we get back to Nightland.” Nola was grateful the helmet hid the fear on her face.
The screaming in the corridors faded. The pounding of the guards’ boots racing toward the threat destroying their home never even passed by the entrance to the Aquaponics Dome.
“Is it time?” Nola asked.
“I don’t think we can afford to wait,” Jeremy said. “Raina and Kieran will be here soon.”
Letting go of Nola’s hand, Jeremy led the way back to the steps, pulling his gun from his belt.
Only the flickering red lights moved in the hall.
The dome names painted on the walls were the same as when Nola had called the domes her home, but she felt no welcome at reading them as they ran down the corridor.
Jeremy slowed as they rounded the corner, holding his arm out to keep Nola from passing him. The stairs leading farther down were empty.
Nola pulled her Guard gun from her hip as they ran down the steps at a human speed. Her throat tightened as they rounded the corner and went down another flight of stairs, then another, winding deeper into the earth.
An empty corridor lined with frosted-glass doors waited for them. Her gun slipped in her grip as sweat slicked her palms.
Jeremy stopped next to a glass door, checking to see that Nola was at his side before shoving the door open and stepping into the seed storage room.
The familiar cold tingled Nola’s skin. She should have felt safe surrounded by the rows of shelves where seeds waited for the day the world would be ready for the Domers to leave their glass castle, but the sight of the useless bounty sent a surge of anger racing through her limbs.
“What a waste.” She turned toward the computer panel in the wall.
“What the hell are you doing down here?” The familiar voice froze Nola’s finger an inch above the screen. “I have made it abundantly clear—I will not abandon my seeds, no matter what Captain Ridgeway says.”
Nola turned to find her mother glaring at her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
More lines creased Lenora Kent’s face than Nola remembered.
Lenora pointed toward the door. “Out of my seed storage, now. Whatever this fresh round of hell might be, I’m sure you’ll be much more useful somewhere else.”
Nola’s hand shook as she tucked her gun back into its holster and removed her helmet. “Mom.”
“Magnolia.” Lenora shook her head, sending her graying hair fluttering around her shoulders.
“Mom, I need you to go to the back of the room.”
“What are you doing here?” Lenora said. “You left. You broke those outsiders out of the cells, and you left.”
“Yes, I did.” Nola took a step toward her mother. “I left because it was the right thing to do. Now I’m here because it’s the right thing to do.”
“You betrayed your home,” Lenora said.
“No, Mom.”
“Don’t Mom me,” Lenora spat. “My daughter died the day the Vampers kidnapped her.”
Nola flinched, trying to hide the stab of betrayal in her gut. “No. I’m alive, and I’m doing more to save the human race now than I ever would have accomplished locked in here.”
“Get out,” Lenora said.
“Mom—”
“My daughter is dead.”
Jeremy took of his helmet. “Get to the back of the room, sit on the floor, and don’t move.”
“Filthy traitors, both of you.” Lenora stepped forward.
“Don’t.” Jeremy raised his gun.
“I will not let you harm my seeds,” Lenora said. “They are worth more than my life.”
“And more than your daughter,” Nola said.
“Yes.” Lenora met Nola’s eyes.
“Make sure she can’t stop me.” Nola turned back to the screen.
She punched in her mother’s passcode without having to think. The whole system pulled up. Inventory, files, climate control. Nola tapped on the climate heading. In three quick strokes, she quadrupled the temperature in the room.
“It’ll ruin everything,” Nola said. The vents turned on, blasting hot air into seed storage. “These seeds were meant to provide for generations.”
Jeremy laid a hand on her shoulder. “So is Nightland, and the spring in the Woodlands.”
Nola turned away from the panel. Lenora lay unconscious on the floor. The hateful twist of her face had faded, leaving Lenora looking almost like the mother Nola remembered.
“She’s still alive?” Nola asked.
“Yeah.”
“Move her to the hall.” Nola didn’t watch as Jeremy carried Lenora out of the room. Instead, she raced down the rows, pulling slim packets of seeds from the different bins.
The door to the hall closed.
“Jeremy?” Nola called.
“It’s just me.” The sound of Jeremy’s boots pounded toward the far side of the room.
Nola stopped at each of the most precious seed bins, loading her pockets with treasures from root vegetables to healing herbs.
A whine sounded from the wall as Jeremy pulled the vent free.
Nola stopped in front of the bin labeled Ficus Carica and pulled out a packet.
“Nola,” Jeremy whispered.
“Coming.” Nola shoved the packet into her pocket with more than two-dozen others and ran for the vent on the far side of the room.
There will be no treasure left in the domes.
Jeremy had already pulled the vent free and kicked open the path to the other side. Still, Nola held her breath as she crawled through the few feet of metal vent and pulled herself out into the medical storage room.
Unlike seed storage, closed cabinets lined the walls of medical storage.
“I have no idea where it could be,” Nola said.
“Start looking.” Jeremy ducked back into the vent, pulling the grate to seed storage closed behind them.
Nodding to herself, Nola ran to the nearest case and wrenched it open. Vials filled with bright blue took up all of the shelves. Snapping the doors shut, Nola moved on to the next. Bottles of pills waited for her. She grabbed four vials of clear fluid and a handful of I-Vents from the third cabinet, shoving them all into the pockets of the dead guard’s vest.
A click sounded from behind her as Jeremy began searching his half of the room.
Please, even if it’s only one dose. Let me find one full dose.
The next case held closed tubs. The next, dishes of golden goo.
We can’t have found Gentry just to lose her. Not after everything we’ve been through.
Cabinet by cabinet, she made her way around the room, dashing on to the next as soon as she was sure she hadn’t found any of the deep black Graylock.
“Oof.” Nola ran into something hard and glanced over to find Jeremy staring at her.
“Nothing?” Dread filled Jeremy’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Nola said.
“My dad’s office,” Jeremy said. “You said you saw some Graylock in his office.”
“In the cabinet behind his desk,” Nola said.
Jeremy raced to the vent, cramming his helmet back onto his head.
Only a floor up.
Nola had made the climb before she’d been given the strength of Graylock. Getting to the next floor would be easy now.
Jeremy tore the vent free with his fingers and began climbing before Nola reached the grate.
She ducked into the shaft, watching as Jeremy pulled himself onto the thin ledge near the Outer Guard barracks and kicked the grate to his father’s office free. In one swift movement, he shifted his weight across the shaft and pulled himself through to the other side.
Nola pulled the grate to medical storage closed and put on her helmet. She took shaking breaths, trying to convince her lungs there was still air in the world.
Hot air aiming toward seed storage rushed down on her.
It’ll contaminate medical storage, too.
Better than dumping Nallot onto a living person.
“Come on.” Jeremy reached down into the shaft.
Nola jumped, grabbing hold of his hands. She closed her eyes as he lifted her up the shaft and dragged her onto the floor of Captain Ridgeway’s office.
Everything was as it had been before. Captain Ridgeway’s desk with the one chair behind it, a photo of Jeremy and Gentry from years ago when Jeremy was still shorter than his sister. A humming cabinet against the back wall.
Nola sprang to her feet while Jeremy moved to the cabinet and wrenched the drawer open.
“Shit!” He punched the side of the cabinet.
Nola leaned over the drawer. Cool air filtered up from the empty space.
“Where would Salinger’s office be?” Nola asked.
“It could be anywhere.” Jeremy dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. “It could be a house in one of the domestic domes. He could have taken over the damn Com Room for all we know. The formula could be in the computer encrypted under any of the doctors’ files, and we wouldn’t have a damned way to open the files even if we could get them.”
“We can figure this out.” Nola lifted Jeremy’s hands away from his face. “You and me together, we can figure this out.”
“Gentry’s going to run out of time. There’s nothing we can do.”
“If I needed Graylock, would you give up?”
“Never.” Jeremy gripped her hands.
“Then we have to keep looking. We’ll go to the medical wing. There’s got to be a triage kit somewhere.”
The walls rumbled, shaking with the chaos of a far away explosion.
“Raina,” Nola said.
“We have to get to the Atrium.” Jeremy shoved on his helmet.
“But the medical—”
“If Salinger is hoarding the Graylock, he won’t be keeping it in the medical wing. We’re supposed to be in the Atrium. If we don’t get there, Gentry won’t need Graylock.” Jeremy stepped toward the door to the corridor. He waited a moment before pulling the door open a crack.
The red lights flashed, but there was no sign of any Outer Guard.
Again, they both drew their weapons as they ran into the hall.
Jeremy looked every bit the Outer Guard, from his boots to his helmet. If his clothes hadn’t been torn, the illusion would have been perfect.
Nola ran by his side in shoes that had once belonged to someone else, and Bishop’s pants and shirt, both of which were far too large for her.
I’m playing dress up in the middle of a battle.
Signs of chaos didn’t litter the domes as they raced through the tunnels. No wounded being carried to help. No guards charging toward the new break in the glass.
Where are the guards?
They found the first signs of true fighting as they reached the corridor below the Atrium. A smear of blood marred the otherwise perfect cleanliness of the tunnel floor.
Around the next corner, a guard lay on the ground, a pool of blood surrounding him.
Nola skirted the red and kept right by Jeremy’s side, not allowing herself time to wonder if the man was already dead or only waiting for Graylock to revive him.
Shouts and the pops of Guard guns being fired carried from up the steps.
It should be louder. There should be more people fighting.
Unless something went wrong and the vampires were beaten before they started.
Jeremy slowed as they reached the top of the stairs to the Atrium.
The scent of smoke cut through the stench of sweat inside Nola’s helmet.
The domes had been working on replanting the trees and grass damaged by Nightland’s first attack. The new growth that had replaced the barren patches was now scarred by footprints and blood. A line of twenty Dome Guard stood around the base of the Com Tower, surrounded by shattered glass and chunks of concrete that had fallen through the dome from the blast on top of the tower. A dozen Outer Guard fought the vampires on the far side of the Atrium where all the vehicles were parked.
“Where’s Gentry?” Nola asked.
“Stay behind me.” Jeremy ran up the last of the stairs and charged straight for the Guard trucks.
Raina fought two guards at once, her knives flashing in her hands as she sliced the gun from one of the guard’s grips. The twins fought side-by-side, tackling a guard and ripping his weapon from his hands. By the shattered glass, vampires lay still on the ground near guards with arrows protruding from their bodies.
Nola scanned the unmoving fighters, searching for Kieran and Gentry.
Jeremy charged into the fight, knocking over a guard who had his weapon aimed at Julian.
Nola raised her gun, firing a dart into the shoulder of an Outer Guard who barreled toward Jeremy.
Raina sprinted through the opening toward the trucks, her pack disappearing from view as the guard she had been fighting rounded on Nola.
He struck down, pummeling her wrist to knock her gun from her grip. Nola pulled her knife from its sheath with her other hand, sinking the blade into the man’s thigh.
The helmet dampened the man’s scream as she wrenched her knife free.
Before she could swing her blade again, Jeremy stabbed the man under the bottom of his vest. The guard gagged as Jeremy tossed him aside.
“Are you—” A pop cut across Jeremy’s question. A thin silver dart glanced off the bottom of his helmet. Nola spun toward the shooter.
The Dome Guard had turned their weapons toward the fight by the trucks. Whether they no longer cared about hitting their own men, or had decided enough Domers had fallen to make shooting worth it, didn’t matter as darts pummeled the fighters.
Jeremy yanked Nola sideways as another round of pops sounded from the Dome Guard’s guns.
A shrill whistle blasted from behind the trucks. As one, the vampires ran, not toward the opening in the glass or for the shelter of the trucks, but for the far side of the Atrium and the stairs that led farther into the domes.
